To catch a Frost spirit
by SherlocksDoctor
Summary: Meridia needs a way to prove herself to the clans, so she goes off to hunt down the Frost spirit in the hopes that she can stop winter from affecting her Clans crops. Along the way she meets a boy named Jack.
1. Prolouge

It had been a number of years since the bear incident, four to be exactly. Meridia was twenty, unmarried, and at the moment, furious.

"Ah shood rule th' clan, I'm th' first born!" Meridia shouted, her hair springing angrily around her. It was an argument they'd had frequently as Meridia had gotten older, about who would lead the clan when her father finally decided to pass down the responsibility. Though this argument was much more intense than usual, Elinor had the exact same response as the many other times.

"No, Meridia." she maintained wearily from her throne. Meridia might admire her mother's stubbornness in other cases, now she was less than ecstatic about it.

"But why!" argued Meridia, her flaming brows furrowing.

"Because you're a girl!" Her mother bellowed, breaking her calm façade, and drawing the attention of her three son who were in the corner setting up another one of their never-ending pranks.

"Because marrying who you want to is one thing, but leading a whole clan? That's insane Meridia! The other clans would never allow it, you'd be overthrown!" Meridia's misty eyes widened.

"This is all about what the other clans think? Wha-"  
"No, it's about what your father says, and he's made his decision!" Meridia's breath caught in her throat. Whatever she had been saying all but left her mind.

"H-he's come ta' a decision?" She stuttered out, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. Elinor nodded gravely. She loved her Meridia just as much as her husband did, but they needed to think about the good of the clan, and not just the good of themselves.

"We decided last night that when Hamish, Harris, and Hubert come of age, we will have them compete to prove which one is worthy enough to lead the clan." the three being spoken of listened in on the conversation from the sidelines, and shared a look as they watched the two fight. They were just nine right now, but in seven short years they would be sixteen, of age, and if their mother was telling the truth (And mother was always right, so of course she was) then one of them would have to start leading the clan in seven years. The three had always just assumed that their sister would handle that. She was strong, smart, and quick tongued, all qualities of great leaders, so why couldn't she lead? The mischievous triplets snuck closer to get more information on what was happening.

"So yer jus' gonna what? Toss meh to th' side? I was born ta' lead, and i'll prove it. I'll prove it to ye all!" Meridia yelled, her face a bright red, and her breathing harsh.

The front doors burst open at that moment, and her father burst in, a few flurries of snow following him.

"Ahaha, the frost spirit has visited us today!" He announced joyously, rubbing the snowflakes off his beard. Merdia shot forward, and ran towards the doors.

'That's it!' she thought 'I'll find the frost spirit! If I can find him, I can stop winter, and then crops will never die! Our clan will never go hungry, and the clans will know that I can do anything!' She sprinted past her father, and ignored her mother's shouts of her name. She was going to lead this clan one day, no matter what.

Outside, the ground was covered in a layer of white, but she had boots on. She wouldn't let anything stop her. Not even her parents. She made it to the stable like lightning, and hopped atop the first horse she saw. Without glancing back at the stable she sprang forward, and to the gates of their village.

"Meridia come back!" her mother called out, amidst a sea of villagers who came out to see what was going on.

"I can't mom, I've got to do this!" Meridia stopped her horse for a moment to answer.

"Do what?" Her father asked stepping forward, to try and catch so he could get her off the horse. Meridia saw his move, and nudged the horse on the side. As the passed the gates Merida hollered back,

"I've got to catch the frost spirit!" She heard her mother yell something about him not being real, about him just being a figure of speech, but Meridia ignored her. If she could follow will o' the wisps to her fate, and turn her mother into a bear, catching a frost spirit wouldn't be as out of reach as her mother thought. With that thought in mind Meridia rode off towards the forest, pulling the fabrics of her dress closer as the cold wind nipped at her exposed skin.

* * *

AN- This is a fanfic that I'm writing for _The-traveling-frost_ over on tumblr. Sorry I know it's short, but it's just the prologue,I had to go ahead, and get all the exposition out of the way. I'll have the first chapter up tomorrow afternoon.


	2. The meeting

Meridia looked up at the cold grey sky, and sighed. This had been a stupid idea. She'd been riding for almost an hour now, and she didn't even have a clue where to start looking for this frost spirit. Her horse clopped forward, nipping at the frozen grass every so often. Meridia's frock was damp from the snowfall, but she was just relieved that it had stopped. She would have been an icicle otherwise. Her horse whinnied loudly, and pawed its feet at the ground, pulling Meridia out of her thoughts. Meridia looked forward only to see a lone boy, maybe a little younger than her, walking into the forest. His hair was covered in snow, which couldn't be too good he could get sick if he went on like that. She clicked her tongue, and tapped her foot on the horse's side.

"C'mon, let's go see what he's doing, no one lives out in these parts. Well except maybe that old witch." The horse halted at the mention of a witch, but with a little more urging from Meridia, continued forward.

Meridia moved branches out of the way as they headed into the forest. Until then they had been on the trail that led up to the Adernthy clan's territory, so maybe it was a good thing that they were turning to the forest now.

They caught up with the boy quickly, and Meridia hopped off her horse to go talk with him.

"Hey you! Are you okay?" The boy was in tattered clothes, and barefooted, but he didn't seem cold. He spun around, a bit over dramatically if you asked Meridia. He looked from side to side frantically, and when he saw no one was near him, he looked straight at Meridia.

"Well are ya?" She pressed again, moving closer to him. Her boots making deep impressions in the snow, where she noticed that his had not. Finding his voice the boy nodded,

"Uhm yes. Yes I'm fine." his voice was warm despite the cold around them, and it made Meridia smile. He had bright blue eyes, and his head was still covered in white snow, despite all the crazy head shaking he had done only moments ago.

"Are ye sure? You're covered in snow!" The boy looked down at his clothes, and patted his hair.

"No I'm not.." He looked over at her suspiciously,

"Are you a witch?" Meridia frowned, shaking her head slightly. Her hair sprang up all around her.

"Are ye crazy, what does that have to do with anything? Did that snow on yer head mess up yer head?" The blue eyed boy rose a dark eyebrow, 'snow on my head?' he mouthed silently, combing a hand through his hair.

"Oh, nonono this is just my hair." Jack explained waving his hands around. Meridia looked at him oddly, and she blew a strand of fire away from her face.

"But ye look so young, why d'ya got white hair?" Behind her, her horse neighed and pawed at the ground, becoming increasingly anxious as Meridia moved closer to the boy. The white haired boy paused in thought before answering her.

"I had a curse put on me, I think. I heard there was a witch out this way so I was coming to see if she could help me." Meridia sized him up, before nodding sympathetically.

"I could take you to her, I got into a bit o' trouble myself just a few years back. She's crazy, but she knows 'er stuff." Jack smiled, and jumped happily.

"I would be ever so grateful if you would!" Merdia hopped back on her horse, and patted the spot behind her for him to jump up on. The kid eyed the horse warily, and quite oddly the horse did the same to him. He climbed up, and Merdia started to lead the horse forward.

"So wha's yer name?" She asked. The boy pushed some of her hair out of the way before telling her that his name was Jackson Overland.

"Overland? Never heard them. Are you from around here?"

"Not really, I'm from Wales." They were quiet for the rest of the ride. Meridia was grateful for the silence, as she was having quite the time trying to remember the trail the will o' the wisps had set last time she was here. Not even twenty minutes later, they arrived at the crossroads. Meridia was more than happy to be back into familiar territory. From here it was just a few turns until they reached the witch's house-A loud, echoing roar bounced across the treetops. Birds scattered away, and rabbits scampered into their holes. The horse reared up, and in their surprise neither Meridia nor Jack had enough time to grab a hold of it. They both slid off the horse, and plopped onto the ground. The horse sprinted away as fast as it could from the roar. Jack, and Meridia sat scattered on the ground. A dull roar was slowly getting louder, closer. The ground beneath them vibrated with each thunderous call, and from the thick expanse of trees in front of them, a slimy claw wrapped itself around a tree trunk.

AN- I've decided that the chapters will be short because I can get them out quicker that way.


End file.
